Dialysis journey and a new kidney
Donation protected
---Traduccion en espanol abajo---
In late January this year, my mom Esther went in for a regular physical and was suddenly diagnosed with kidney failure. We, as a family, were not expecting this as she had not shown any symptoms. She had always seemed like a perfectly healthy woman in her 50s, but this year we learned that her body was failing her and it was too late for us to do anything to help.
When your kidneys fail, you automatically think "Oh, well there's two of them so you can rely on the other one." I certainly jumped to that conclusion. Unfortunately, we learned that is not what happens- when one fails, the other does too- and when your body doesn't have properly working kidneys, you can't filter out all the toxins you consume in your diet. This waste begins to build up inside your body, and can cause weakness, shortness of breath, lethargy, swelling and confusion. Because symptoms are rarely ever present, you could experience sudden death . Late stage kidney failure requires a procedure called dialysis, where a machine helps the patient filter the waste products out of their system. While this treatment is effective, it is very time consuming and limiting. Some patients may only require dialysis three times a week, while others require it every day. Regardless, every patient will depend on this machine for the rest of their life, or until they find a compatible kidney for a transplant, which is currently taking years.
Since being diagnosed on January 31st, we have been helping my mother not only cope with her diagnosis but attend countless doctors' appointments, insurance calls, medical exams and imaging. She had a peritoneal catheter surgically placed last in order to prepare her for daily dialysis. She will undergo 8 hours of dialysis, and as you can imagine, this will limit her daily activities as she needs to be near the machine for a third of her day. Not only that, she will now have to face the side effects of dialysis which include abdominal pain, bleeding, peritonitis and high or low blood pressure, among others. All this, until she finds a match and can undergo a kidney transplant.
She is working her final week and will then be focusing on her recovery from surgery. My family is coming together through this tough time to help her in any way we can. This is where you come in. Any donation, big or small, will be appreciated. It will be used to help her through this transition, as she has been suddenly forced to stop working and we don't know when she will be able to return. Your donation will help her get through the next few months as she adjusts to her new normal. Hospital bills and copays will not stop, especially now that she depends on this machine, at least for the next few years.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for caring for my mom.
/////ESPANOL
A finales de Enero de este año, mi mama Esther se hizo sus examenes anuales y fue diagnosticada con insuficiencia renal. Nosotros, su familia, no esperabamos ese diagnostico ya que ella no mostraba ningun sintoma. Siempre parecia una saludable mujer en sus 50s, pero este año aprendimos que su cuerpo le estaba fallando, y que ya era muy tarde para hacer algo al respecto.
Cuando los riñones fallan, uno automaticamente asume "Ah, pero hay dos asi que estamos bien." Yo llegue a esa misma conclusion de inmediato. Desafortunadamente, aprendimos que eso no es lo que sucede- cuando uno falla, el otro tambien- y cuando tu cuerpo tiene una insuficiencia renal, no puede filtrar las toxinas que consumes en tu dieta. Estos residuos se acumulan en tu cuerpo, y pueden causar cansansio, dificultad para respirar, letargo, hinchazon y confusion. Porque algunos sintomas casi nunca estan presentes, podrias tener una muerte subita. La insuficiencia renal en etapa tardia requiere un procedimiento llamado dialisis, donde una maquina ayuda a filtrar los residuos fuera del sistema. Este tratamiento es muy eficaz, pero tambien lento y limitante. Algunos pacientes pueden recibir dialisis tres veces a la semana, y otros a diario. Sin embargo, todos dependeran en esta maquina por el resto de sus vidas, o hasta que le encuentren un rinon compatible, que se esta tardando anos.
Desde que la diagnosticaron el 31 de Enero, hemos estado ayudando a mi mama no solo lidiar con su diagnostico pero tambien acompanarla a inumerables citas con doctores, llamadas de seguro, examenes medicos e imagenes. Tuvo una cirugia para ponerle un cateter peritoneal y asi prepararse para empezar la dialisis. Cada sesion durara 8 horas diarias, y como se pueden imaginar esto limitara sus actividades diarias ya que tendra que pasar un tercio de su dia al lado de la maquina. No solo eso pero tambien tendra que enfrentar los efectos secundarios de la dialisis como dolor abdominal, sangramiento, peritonitis, y presion alta o baja. Todo esto hasta que encontremos un donante y hacerle el trasplante.
Mi mama ya dejo de trabajar y se esta enfocando en su recuperacion. Mi familia esta uniendose aun mas durante estos tiempos dificiles y ayudandola como podemos. Aqui es donde entran ustedes. Cualquier donacion, grande o pequena, sera muy agradecida. Se utilizara para ayudarla por esta transicion, ya que le ha tocado dejar de trabajar repentinamente y no sabemos cuando podra regresar. Su donacion la ayudara a traves de estos proximos meses mientras se ajusta a su nueva normalidad. Como saben, las cuentas de los hospitales y los copagos seguiran, y especialmente ahora que depende de esa maquina, por lo menos por los proximos anos.
Gracias por su tiempo y por querer ayudar a mi mama.
In late January this year, my mom Esther went in for a regular physical and was suddenly diagnosed with kidney failure. We, as a family, were not expecting this as she had not shown any symptoms. She had always seemed like a perfectly healthy woman in her 50s, but this year we learned that her body was failing her and it was too late for us to do anything to help.
When your kidneys fail, you automatically think "Oh, well there's two of them so you can rely on the other one." I certainly jumped to that conclusion. Unfortunately, we learned that is not what happens- when one fails, the other does too- and when your body doesn't have properly working kidneys, you can't filter out all the toxins you consume in your diet. This waste begins to build up inside your body, and can cause weakness, shortness of breath, lethargy, swelling and confusion. Because symptoms are rarely ever present, you could experience sudden death . Late stage kidney failure requires a procedure called dialysis, where a machine helps the patient filter the waste products out of their system. While this treatment is effective, it is very time consuming and limiting. Some patients may only require dialysis three times a week, while others require it every day. Regardless, every patient will depend on this machine for the rest of their life, or until they find a compatible kidney for a transplant, which is currently taking years.
Since being diagnosed on January 31st, we have been helping my mother not only cope with her diagnosis but attend countless doctors' appointments, insurance calls, medical exams and imaging. She had a peritoneal catheter surgically placed last in order to prepare her for daily dialysis. She will undergo 8 hours of dialysis, and as you can imagine, this will limit her daily activities as she needs to be near the machine for a third of her day. Not only that, she will now have to face the side effects of dialysis which include abdominal pain, bleeding, peritonitis and high or low blood pressure, among others. All this, until she finds a match and can undergo a kidney transplant.
She is working her final week and will then be focusing on her recovery from surgery. My family is coming together through this tough time to help her in any way we can. This is where you come in. Any donation, big or small, will be appreciated. It will be used to help her through this transition, as she has been suddenly forced to stop working and we don't know when she will be able to return. Your donation will help her get through the next few months as she adjusts to her new normal. Hospital bills and copays will not stop, especially now that she depends on this machine, at least for the next few years.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for caring for my mom.
/////ESPANOL
A finales de Enero de este año, mi mama Esther se hizo sus examenes anuales y fue diagnosticada con insuficiencia renal. Nosotros, su familia, no esperabamos ese diagnostico ya que ella no mostraba ningun sintoma. Siempre parecia una saludable mujer en sus 50s, pero este año aprendimos que su cuerpo le estaba fallando, y que ya era muy tarde para hacer algo al respecto.
Cuando los riñones fallan, uno automaticamente asume "Ah, pero hay dos asi que estamos bien." Yo llegue a esa misma conclusion de inmediato. Desafortunadamente, aprendimos que eso no es lo que sucede- cuando uno falla, el otro tambien- y cuando tu cuerpo tiene una insuficiencia renal, no puede filtrar las toxinas que consumes en tu dieta. Estos residuos se acumulan en tu cuerpo, y pueden causar cansansio, dificultad para respirar, letargo, hinchazon y confusion. Porque algunos sintomas casi nunca estan presentes, podrias tener una muerte subita. La insuficiencia renal en etapa tardia requiere un procedimiento llamado dialisis, donde una maquina ayuda a filtrar los residuos fuera del sistema. Este tratamiento es muy eficaz, pero tambien lento y limitante. Algunos pacientes pueden recibir dialisis tres veces a la semana, y otros a diario. Sin embargo, todos dependeran en esta maquina por el resto de sus vidas, o hasta que le encuentren un rinon compatible, que se esta tardando anos.
Desde que la diagnosticaron el 31 de Enero, hemos estado ayudando a mi mama no solo lidiar con su diagnostico pero tambien acompanarla a inumerables citas con doctores, llamadas de seguro, examenes medicos e imagenes. Tuvo una cirugia para ponerle un cateter peritoneal y asi prepararse para empezar la dialisis. Cada sesion durara 8 horas diarias, y como se pueden imaginar esto limitara sus actividades diarias ya que tendra que pasar un tercio de su dia al lado de la maquina. No solo eso pero tambien tendra que enfrentar los efectos secundarios de la dialisis como dolor abdominal, sangramiento, peritonitis, y presion alta o baja. Todo esto hasta que encontremos un donante y hacerle el trasplante.
Mi mama ya dejo de trabajar y se esta enfocando en su recuperacion. Mi familia esta uniendose aun mas durante estos tiempos dificiles y ayudandola como podemos. Aqui es donde entran ustedes. Cualquier donacion, grande o pequena, sera muy agradecida. Se utilizara para ayudarla por esta transicion, ya que le ha tocado dejar de trabajar repentinamente y no sabemos cuando podra regresar. Su donacion la ayudara a traves de estos proximos meses mientras se ajusta a su nueva normalidad. Como saben, las cuentas de los hospitales y los copagos seguiran, y especialmente ahora que depende de esa maquina, por lo menos por los proximos anos.
Gracias por su tiempo y por querer ayudar a mi mama.
Organizer
Paola Hardisson
Organizer
Miami, FL
